Chapter 19: Lost Just Like That

Xu Si'an, with a mischievous grin, blew air into her ear.

Qiao Xu instinctively flinched.

His hand, which was around her lower abdomen, tightened: "Qiaoqiao, don't say anything that makes me angry."

Qiao Xu lowered her head and said coldly, "I'm telling the truth. You know that after we get together, my needs will be very high. If I don't find someone to do it, I will—".

Qiao Xu's neck was gently pinched and lifted up, meeting his eyes, which were full of hostility and reddened.

"Are you looking for death?"

"I want to live, but you've never let me go."

Xu Si'an lowered his head, his cheek pressed against hers: "You didn't let me off the hook either, did you?"

He growled in a low voice, gripping Qiao Xu's hand and slamming it against his chest: "This is it, this is the place that has tormented me for four whole years."

"Qiao Xu, why are you so heartless, just throwing me away like that?"

Qiao Xu couldn't break free from his grip, and said softly, "My hand hurts."

The pressure on her wrist loosened slightly, and Qiao Xu's hand covered the web of his hand that was gripping her neck.

Xu Si'an noticed the scratches on the hand: "What happened to your hand?"

"It itched, so I scratched it."

Xu Si'an let go of her and tried to pull up her sleeve to check: "Is it an allergic reaction? Let me ask if there are any peanuts in tonight's midnight snack."

Qiao Xu took a step back: "Xu Si'an, we are not on the same path. We weren't four years ago, and we certainly won't be now."

"I'll have someone buy medicine, because scratching will leave marks."

He turned around, walked to his desk, picked up his phone, and before he could dial, he heard her say it.

"Xu Si'an, stop running away."

"Let's not dwell on it."

"I'm getting married soon, and your behavior is affecting my life."

Xu Si'an's back hunched slightly as he gripped his phone tightly and smashed it against the floor-to-ceiling glass.

"roll."

The phone fell onto the carpet with a "thud".

For a moment, Qiao Xu was afraid that she would smash the glass and then be thrown down by him.

She opened the door and fled, the man's hands trembling as he leaned on the desk.

His shoulders trembled slightly.

During this time of reunion, no matter how cold and sarcastic Qiao Xu was, she would never mention that she was going to marry someone else.

She once said that she, Qiao Xu, would only marry Xu Si'an, because Xu Si'an and Qiao Xu sound the same when typed using the nine-key pinyin system; he starts with the first character and she ends with the second.

Qiao Xu went to the restroom to wash her hands, took off her contact lenses, and threw them into the trash can.

Ignoring the makeup still on her face, she turned on the tap and splashed cold water on her face.

She knew where Xu Si'an's fatal spot was, and she knew where to stab him to cause the most pain.

Even if she gets back together with Xu Si'an, even if she marries him, the Xu family will not accept her.

She also couldn't accept a mother-in-law who threatened to have her parents killed.

After changing out of her high heels, Qiao Xu left the office and saw Xu Si'an and Song Jia at the elevator entrance.

"Sister Xu, how are you going to get home so late?"

"How about we let President Xu..."

Qiao Xu smiled and interrupted him, "I can just take a taxi myself."

Xu Si'an sneered: "My car isn't a public bus. Do you think just anyone can get on?"

Qiao Xu paused for a moment as she entered the elevator.

She tightened her grip on the bag strap, not even noticing her nails digging into her palms.

The man stepped into the elevator, and Qiao Xu took a step back.

Song Jia asked, "Sister Xu, aren't you leaving?"

Qiao Xu suppressed the waves of pain rising in her heart and said, "I forgot my house keys, you can go ahead."

As the elevator doors closed, Song Jia murmured, "It's so unsafe not to have a combination lock."

Xu Si'an clenched his fist and slammed it against the elevator.

"Hold!"

"Xu Si'an, you have such a foul mouth."

He was still angry and had no idea what he had blurted out.

Song Jia was startled: "President Xu, what's wrong?"

Xu Si'an held out his hand to him: "Car keys, take a taxi yourself."

"Okay, Mr. Xu."

After the elevator doors closed, Qiao Xu squatted on the ground, tears falling onto the tips of her shoes: "Bastard."

"Xu Si'an, you're a fucking bastard."

I will never love you again.

Qiao Xu wiped away her tears, pressed the elevator button, and hailed a car as she went downstairs.

When we arrived at the gate, a black Porsche was parked across the entrance. The window rolled down: "Get in."

Qiao Xu ignored her and looked down at the ride-hailing app on her phone.

Orders were being processed very slowly at this time, so Qiao Xu added more money.

"Get in the car, I'll take you home."

"No, thank you."

Xu Si'an unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. He walked to the passenger side and opened the door: "Will you get in yourself or should I carry you?"

Qiao Xu looked at him coldly: "Xu Si'an, how can you be so shameless? I don't love you anymore, why are you still clinging to me?"

"Yes, I'm being a jerk, get in the car."

Qiao Xu's backward movement angered Xu Si'an, and he reached out to grab her, but Qiao Xu nimbly dodged and ran towards the road outside.

Xu Si'an was so angry that his face turned black.

"What are you doing running around in the middle of the night, damn it?"

Qiao Xu's mind was now filled with the thought of getting away from this man.

She ran while looking back, and when she saw Xu Si'an catching up, she didn't even pick up her bag.

"Stop! Danger!"

"If you don't chase me, you won't be in danger."

Qiao Xu had lost her bearings and rushed into the middle of the road.

The streetlights are dim, and every intersection is a blind spot.

When Qiao Xu rushed across the zebra crossing, the car turning the corner couldn't brake in time.

"Qiao Xu!"

Xu Si'an wished he had wheels under his feet.

Qiao Xu was grazed by the speeding car and fell to the ground on the roadside steps.

The car in front also stopped, and the driver got out with a fierce look on his face.

Xu Si'an squatted down in a panic and helped the dazed Qiao Xu lean against him: "Does it hurt anywhere?"

"Qiao Xu, speak up, where does it hurt?"

The driver cursed as he drove off: "Are you blind? What the hell are you thinking, coming out on the street in the middle of the night—?"

Xu Si'an pulled Qiao Xu into his arms, his cold eyes fixed on the man who was barely drooling: "Drunk driving, speeding at intersections, speeding on zebra crossings."

"Damn it, I'm just unlucky."

The main problem was that Xu Si'an's face was really frightening, and the driver was indeed drunk driving, so he turned around and left in a sorry state.

Xu Si'an pushed the person away a little and tried to pull up her trouser leg.

Qiao Xu slapped his hand away and yelled, "You're a bastard!"

"Yes, I'm a bastard, where does it hurt?"

"Get away from me and don't touch me."

Qiao Xu shifted her foot, and the pain brought tears to her eyes.

When I fell, my knee hit the step, and my palm was also scraped.

Xu Si'an picked her up horizontally, and Qiao Xu tried to jump down from his arms: "Put me down, I don't want you to hold me."

"Don't move around, or you'll fall again."

Qiao Xu said defiantly, "Don't get dirty with me, the kind of public bus anyone can get on."

"Qiao Xu!"

Xu Si'an was almost furious, but he was the one who said it, even though he didn't mean it that way.

But hearing him say those things right after an argument makes it hard not to make connections.

As he passed the spot where the bag had been switched, Xu Si'an squatted down, picked up the bag, and hung it on his shoulder.

"Don't say things out of anger, you know that's not what I meant."

Qiao Xu smiled and said, "Xu Si'an, the words that come out of his mouth are the most sincere."

Xu Si'an was speechless. He had blurted it out, but that was definitely not what he meant. He probably knew Qiao Xu better than she did.